Patrick Fugit

A low-key, likable actor, Patrick Fugit seemingly came out of nowhere to play Cameron Crowe's alter ego in the critically acclaimed and much loved valentine to rock-n-roll, "Almost Famous" (2000). As...
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Review: 'Gone Girl' Is a Fun, Sinister Exploration of Marriage In 2014

20th Century Fox Film via Everett Collection
The past 15 years have done a number on American suburbia. In 1999, a simpler and sweeter time, Sam Mendes used American Beauty to pull back the curtain on the subculture’s sinister core. In 2014, Gone Girl serves a similar purpose, but shoulders a heavier load: today is far more readily sinister, malevolent, desperate, and disgusting than the pre-9/11 era captured in Mendes’ Oscar winner.
So, naturally, we turn to David Fincher.
Just as Gone Girl is 2014’s equivalent to Clinton Era American Beauty, the new film is 50s Fincher’s answer to the mid-30s-Fincher product Fight Club. In exploring the disappearance of writer Amy Dunn (Rosamund Pike), the film’s story spotlights the diabolical wire rigs behind her relationship with husband Nick (Ben Affleck) — and, by extension, the ugly truths fueling or anchoring any modern marriage (hell, if people this pretty have problems…).
The novel adaptation claims stake in the genres of mystery, horror, psychological thriller, relationship drama, and — hell, for sure — black comedy, having a ton of twisted fun as both an elaborate whodunit and a socio-psychological term paper on contemporary gender politics.
20th Century Fox Film via Everett Collection
Affleck is a hoot as the rigidly dislikable Nick, a charmless cad who can look shlubby even with a mile-long shoulder width. Pike, too, is a treat, batting around banter in perfect company with Fincher's dreamy eye to produce a heightened reality that hits visceral levels. But the supporting cast is Gone Girl's claim to fame. As a hard-nosed detective, Kim Dickens is electric enough to escape the limiting nature of her audience surrogate character; right beside her is an almost wordless Patrick Fugit, whose stoic body language manages a laugh every time. And yes, believe it: Tyler Perry is pretty good.
But what is probably most impressive about the movie — a factor that, to some, might actually prove most frustating — is its comfort with keeping certain things nebulous. At the risk of anticlimax, Gone Girl occassionally favors implications over answers, suggesting to the audience that its conversation extends the parameters of its plot.
Never lilting in its energy thanks to an unorthodox structure and feverish editing, Gone Girl is as broadly enjoyable as it is clever. Fincher manages with middle age what he mastered with fading youth, in 2014 what Mendes tried in '99. It's all very frightening, all too provocative, and all one mess of a good time.
4/5
Follow @Michael Arbeiter| Follow @Hollywood_com

Dreamworks via Everett Collection
Director Cameron Crowe is reportedly developing his first TV series centring around a fictional U.S. rock band's tour.
The Almost Famous filmmaker is preparing for his first foray into the small screen with an ensemble comedy titled Roadies, according to NikkiFinke.com. Crowe, who created the series and is producing the programme with J.J. Abrams' production company Bad Robot, is also slated to direct the pilot.
The Oscar winner is currently wrapping up an as-yet-untitled romantic comedy starring Bradley Cooper and Emma Stone, which is set to hit cinemas by the end of the year (14).

Philip Seymour Hoffman's Almost Famous co-star Patrick Fugit has added his tribute to the tragic actor in a heartfelt essay published by the New York Post. A day after the 2000 film's director Cameron Crowe offered up his respects in the form of a touching post on his blog, Fugit, who played young music journalist William Miller in the movie, revealed working with the acting great was an "intimidating" experience.
He recalls, "Philip was very forward with me, in a school-of-hard-knocks way. It was almost like when you go on a hike with your dad, and your dad just hikes the mountain and expects you to keep up. That's the way Philip did the scenes. It was like he was saying, 'All right, kid, you're here, you're playing the lead in Cameron's movie'. There was a certain weight that came with him. There was sort of a darkness. That's part of what made his acting so compelling and complete."
Fugit reveals even the flu couldn't stop Hoffman from giving his all: "I remember watching him in the scene in which Lester is doing the Iggy Pop dance. I was watching Philip work, and it occurred to me: This was the sort of caliber of acting that I was going to need to do from that point forward. There was something about watching Philip that opened my eyes to the potential for creating."
Another Hoffman co-star who was paying his respects on Tuesday (04Feb14) was The Talented Mr. Ripley's Matt Damon.
Speaking on U.S. breakfast show Good Morning America, he said, "He's one of the best actors to ever live, without a doubt... And he was an even better person, he was a beautiful, beautiful person. It's horrible, just horrible."
Hoffman died of a suspected drug overdose at his home in New York on Sunday (02Feb14).

This Friday, Cameron Crowe's life-affirming We Bought a Zoo starring the lovable Matt Damon, will reach theaters. Damon stars as the good-hearted, outsmarted Benjamin Mee, a man who, having no place else to turn, buys a zoo for him and his family. The film also stars Scarlett Johansson as a begrudging zookeeper, Thomas Haden Church as Ben's cynical brother, Patrick Fugit as zoo employee Robin and a whole bunch of animals ready to teach Ben how to live.
Below is a collection of We Bought a Zoo clips, filled with all of the energy and whimsy you'd expect from a film centered around a man's financial reception of a menagerie.
When Ben and his young daughter Rosie (Maggie Elizabeth Jones) are escorted to their new property, they don't expect to find too many surprises. Fresh air, a quiet environment...maybe a lion or two. When they arrive, their real estate agent (J.B. Smoove) informs them of something a little disconcerting: they bought a zoo.

Cameron Crowe has had his share of music experience. You might recall the semi-autobiographical adventures of a young Rolling Stone reporter in the Crowe's signature film, Almost Famous. Others might remember a very stereo-centric scene in Crowe's first feature, Say Anything.... And, of course, there were the music videos and the documentaries: Tom Petty, Alice in Chains, Elton John, Pearl Jam... it's fair to say that Crowe knows his way around a tune. So, it's both unsurprising and pretty darn groovy that he has come to collaborating with Sigur Rós' frontman Jónsi on some original music for the upcoming We Bought a Zoo.
Crowe and Jónsi (Jón Þór Birgisson) co-wrote "Gathering Stories," the final song on We Bought a Zoo's soundtrack, and coming from a fan of Crowe, Jónsi, Sigur Rós, stories, gatherings, soundtracks, original music, zoos, financial transactions, and this symbol: Þ, I can objectively state that this song is pretty darn groovy. Unsurprisingly.
The musical Crowe-laboration is available free thanks to NPR. You can listen to it on NPR's website by clicking here. We Bought a Zoo opens Dec. 23 and stars Matt Damon, Scarlett Johansson, Thomas Haden Church, and Almost Famous star Patrick Fugit.
Via TheFilmStage

Cameron Crowe is dipping into the well again (though the exact whereabouts and contents of this well are still up in the air (how a well got up in the air is still being researched as well)) by casting his almost famous Almost Famous (see what I did there?) star Patrick Fugit in his next film We Bought A Zoo.
The film has already cast Matt Damon as the main character who (you’ll never believe this) purchases a zoo and ropes his family into rebuilding and running said zoo. Thomas Haden Church will play Damon’s brother. Fugit’s role is being kept secret (he’ll probably play someone who works at the zoo). And Damon’s wife will probably be played by Scarlett Johansson dhegrnnrunvhnrhncnmomaiwexqmqowcm, whoops, sorry about that. My jaw fell on the keyboard.
I don’t think we have to argue about how awesome Damon and Johansson are (unless we’re arguing about HOW awesome they are). Fugit is awesome though. He’s one of the young actors that I wish we would see more of. Don’t get me wrong, I like my Michael Ceras and Jesse Eisenbergs as much as the next guy, but a little variety never hurts and Fugit can easily fill that void. If you haven’t seen Saved!, you need to see it now. Fugit doesn’t tranform or transcend the film, its just a really fucking good movie that you should see that happens to have Fugit in it.
Also, how do we say his name? Is it FOO-get? Fuh-GIT? I'm really confused and could use some clarification.
Source: Hollywood Reporter

Staking a rather weak claim for placement alongside the venerable Twilight in the growing oeuvre of teen vampire flicks is Cirque Du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant based on Darren Shan’s popular series of young adult novels. Compared to Stephenie Meyer’s celebrated books and their subsequent movie adaptations Cirque is quirkier more irreverent and more male-oriented. (The latter is best exemplified by the presence of Salma Hayek whose ample assets are on conspicuous display throughout.) It’s unfortunate that it doesn’t make for a better film.
Relative newcomer Chris Massoglia stars as Darren (in a classy move the book’s author named the character after himself) a reasonably well-adjusted 16-year-old whose comfortable suburban existence contrasts sharply with that of his best friend Steve (Josh Hutcherson) an inveterate troublemaker with a deadbeat dad and an alcoholic mom. Uh-oh — methinks this combustible pairing could be recipe for future possibly momentous squabbles no?
For all their differences Darren and Steve are united by a common interest in all manner of unusual and otherworldly phenomena which leads them to the Cirque du Freak a traveling sideshow with an eclectic roster of performers: Rhamus Twobellies (Frankie Faison) boasts twin stomachs while Alexander Ribs (Orlando Jones) has no midsection at all; in addition to being freakishly endowed Madame Truska (Hayek duh) can grow a lengthy beard within seconds; Gertha Teeth (Kristen Schaal) can bite through anything; Corma Limbs (Jane Krakowski) can chop off and re-grow appendages; and so on. Headlining it all is Larten Crepsley (John C. Reilly) a charismatic magician who also happens to be a closet vampire.
Unforeseen circumstances force Darren to become an indentured servant to Crepsley the first step of a strange journey in which he becomes half-vampire rooms with a sensitive snake boy (Patrick Fugit) romances a sassy monkey girl (Jessica Carlson) gets accosted by shriveled Gollum clones and is eventually drafted into a centuries-long war between the peaceful human-friendly Vampires and their fiendish archrivals the ravenous Vampanese.
All of this may sound genuinely exciting but that excitement seems to have been lost somewhere during Cirque Du Freak’s leap to the big screen. After trying for nearly two hours to make sense of the film’s distractingly disjointed storyline littered with aimless subplots it came as no surprise to me to learn afterward that its screenplay shoehorned three of Shan’s novels into one film. Needless to say it did not succeed. And director Paul Weitz (About a Boy) doesn’t help matters infusing the action with jarring cuts and awkward transitions that only serve to amplify the holes in the narrative.
The one bright spot in Cirque Du Freak is a sublime performance from the ever-likable Reilly whose pale schlubby Atlas alone holds up the movie’s fragile lumbering frame for the bulk of its running time.
Maybe that’s why he looked so tired by the end.

In the opening scene of Wristcutters we see twentysomething Zia (Patrick Fugit) cleaning his room for what appears to be the first time in ages; it’s also the last. He isn’t straightening up for a guest or for the hell of it but rather to leave a clean room behind when he slits his wrist moments later. Cut to Kamikaze Pizza the restaurant where Zia works in what he thinks is purgatory. The only way in is by committing suicide and the only way out is if there was a mismanagement in your death circumstances and you wound up there by accident. Zia hates every second of it and is happy to find someone in Eugene (Shea Whigham) with whom he can commiserate over beers at the local dive bar—which is really the only place to go anyway. The afterlife brightens up even further when Zia gets word that his ex-girlfriend back on Earth Desiree (Leslie Bibb) has offed herself too and is er descending upon the area. So Zia and Eugene go on a road trip through the most desolate highways and byways you’ve never seen in an attempt to track down Zia’s lone post-suicide regret. Along the way they pick up a hitchhiker Mikal (Shannyn Sossamon) who believes she’s there by mistake as well as a very twisted sort of enlightenment. It’s always impressive when actors are able to acutely grasp the most complex scripts and their subtext (i.e. Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet in Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind) and the gang from Wristcutters is in that rare company. Fugit who broke out in 2000’s Almost Famous and has remained well under the radar since is the oddest of protagonists—a suicide “victim ” if you will whose afterlife you’re rooting for—and it’s hard to think of another actor who could pull off what he does here. It's because he’s somehow compellingly blasé which is obviously no easy feat and is clearly as lost post-life as he was during it. Sossamon (A Knight's Tale) is spunky quirky and unpredictable in a way that’ll be as attractive to viewers as it is to Zia. There really is something troubled and normal about her character that adds potential validity to Mikal’s claims of not belonging in this apparent purgatory. Rising star Whigham (All the Real Girls) as the heavily Russian Eugene rounds out the trio of roadtrippers with initial comic relief followed later by dramatic relief. Two of the more Bizarro performances we’ve seen in a long time come appropriately from a flying Tom Waits (whose record Zia puts on in the opening scene to die to) and Will Arnett possibly as the messiah. Who needs a huge budget when you have a huge imagination like Wristcutters’ Croatian writer/director Goran Dukic does? And what a perfect premise to have no money for because the afterlife he dreams up is a wasteland of nothingness where traffic-less roads stretch forever possibly as a punishment. But it’s not all about visuals or lack thereof in this adaptation of an Israeli short story (Kneller’s Happy Campers) by Etgar Keret even though the film’s most arresting scene features a deserted beach at sunset. See Wristcutters is a genuine romantic comedy under the guise of a grim deed and ramshackle no-budget “indie-ness”: The comedy is everywhere albeit very dry and romance is something of a Holy Grail for which the characters are unwittingly searching. But don’t write off Dukic’s effort as whimsical or obtuse because after some (literally) supernatural twists towards the end Wristcutters turns profound—in a way that is wholly unpretentious and thus surprising for an independent film.

Officials at a top suicide prevention group are failing to see the funny side of billboard ads for a new comedy that show people killing themselves.
Acclaimed indie movie Wristcutters: A Love Story follows a group of people who have taken their own lives as they take a trip through purgatory.
The film, starring Patrick Fugit and Shannyn Sossamon, has won a handful of top indie film prizes in America, but the director of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention (AFSP) is not a fan of the film or its marketing campaign.
In a letter to producers, Robert Gebbia says, "You don't see people making fun of other causes of death, but you see it with suicide and mental illness."
But producer Courtney Solomon isn't planning to pull the ad campaign, stating, "The movie's message is that love is better than suicide.
"Our job is to get people into the theatre in a way that's accessible to them. There are many different ways to skin a cat. God forbid someone was considering committing suicide. This film may change their opinion."
COPYRIGHT 2007 WORLD ENTERTAINMENT NEWS NETWORK LTD. All Global Rights Reserved.

Mary (Jena Malone) -- born again at the age of 3 and an unquestioning bible thumper ever since -- is about to start her senior year at American Eagle Christian High School and God is smiling on her. She and her pretty devout friend Hilary Faye (Mandy Moore) are popular she has a handsome boyfriend Dean (Chad Faust) and she religiously rocks out at Christian concerts. The first sign of trouble is when ice-skating chastity embracing Dean tells Mary he thinks he's gay. Determined to bring her man back to the Lord Mary makes a deal with Jesus: She'll seduce Dean if the Lamb of God then restores her "emotional" and "spiritual" virginity. Cut to a few weeks later: Dean-o's been packed off to sexuality rehab Mary can't keep her breakfast down and all of a sudden Jesus is looking a lot less like a pal and a lot more like a used car salesman. With the core of her faith shrinking as her belly is expanding Mary sees her peers in a whole new light -- "perfect" Hilary Faye has plenty of flaws and "bad girl" Cassandra (Eva Amurri) might not be the spawn of Satan after all. All of which helps Mary and company discover what being a Christian really means -- just in time for prom!
The cast of Saved! is almost as eclectic a mix as a real high school class. Malone Amurri (Susan Sarandon's daughter) Patrick Fugit (as alterna-cutie skateboarder Patrick) and Heather Matarazzo (as blunt hanger-on Tia) are all card-carrying members of the Hip Indie Actors club while Moore and Macaulay Culkin (as Hilary Faye's wheelchair-bound brother Roland) come from the Much-Mocked Pop Culture Icon school. All acquit themselves admirably with Moore and Amurri as particular standouts. Moore has Hilary Faye's mix of smug self-entitlement and hollow concern nailed: This is one pop tart who knows how to play a sugar-coated bitch. Her showy piousness is particularly amusing when you contrast it with her PAX-worthy performance as a doomed preacher's daughter in A Walk to Remember. Playing American Eagle's token Jewish student Amurri expertly offers glimpses of tough-talking Cassandra's inner vulnerability and warm heart; her scenes with Culkin's wryly cynical Roland are some of the movie's best. Malone is occasionally a bit tepid but her sparks with Fugit seem real. The token adult actors -- Mary-Louise Parker as Mary's trashy widowed mother Lillian and Martin Donovan as principal Pastor Skip (whose insecurity almost overwhelms his own faith) -- also turn in strong performances.
Saved! made its debut at the 2004 Sundance Film Festival and it's not hard to see why: Brian Dannelly's film has "indie" written all over it. Dannelly deserves credit for pushing the envelope as far as he has -- suffice it to say that Saved! probably won't go over so well in the heartland (or even the suburbs) -- but the film isn't a total success. Its mix of dark humor and sincere sentiment is a bit jarring; just when you're guffawing at Dannelly's send-up of "hip Christianity" in the form of Pastor Skip's unbelievably lame attempts to connect with his young flock ("let's get our Christ on!") or Hilary Faye's forceful attempts to perform a drive-by saving on the wayward Mary you land with a bump as Mary and her mom share a quiet moment or Patrick and his dad exchange some tense words. It's obvious that Dannelly didn't want Saved! to be dismissed as mere parody but the film strays too far into spoof territory to be a drama and vice versa.

Made acting debut in a school production of "The Twelve Dancing Princesses"

Played the title character in the coming-of-age comedy "Bickford Schmeckler's Cool Ideas"

Co-starred in "The Amateurs," an independent comedy about a sleepy town that comes together to film a porno

First TV appearance on an episode of "Touched By an Angel" (CBS)

Summary

A low-key, likable actor, Patrick Fugit seemingly came out of nowhere to play Cameron Crowe's alter ego in the critically acclaimed and much loved valentine to rock-n-roll, "Almost Famous" (2000). As the wide-eyed, high school reporter at the center of the film's action, Fugit earned his share of accolades and attention. He played similarly naïve but goodhearted quirky love interests in the Michelle Pfeiffer drama "White Oleander" (2002) and as a pastor's skateboarding son romancing a pregnant classmate in the religious satire "Saved!" (2004). Falling a bit off the radar after his quick rise, Fugit starred in a string of little-seen projects, including "Wristcutters: A Love Story" (2006) and "Cirque du Freak: The Vampire's Assistant" (2009), but returned to the spotlight with an acclaimed supporting role in the retelling of the making of the 1970s groundbreaking Loud family documentary in "Cinema Verite" (HBO, 2011). Although he did not achieve household name status, Patrick Fugit built an impressive filmography on his own terms and based around his own unique charisma.

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Bruce Fugit

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Jan Fugit

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Colin Fugit

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Jocelyn Fugit

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Notes

"During the movie, Cameron [Crowe] said, 'I want rock and roll just coming out of your pores.' I was like, 'All right, I can do that, I'm an actor,' and I started listening to some music and I was like, 'I don't know, I'm not feeling it.' And then I started listening to it more and more, and now that's what I do. I fall asleep listening to Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd." – Fugit to "Almost Famous" co-star Billy Crudup, in Interview magazine, September 2000

Fugit, who reportedly only previously owned one CD, Chumbawumba's Tubthumper prior to "Almost Famous," on taking the role of rock fanatic William Miller: "Cameron [Crowe] said, 'Do you listen to rock?' and I said no. I actually thought Led Zepplin was one person. But then he said 'That's all right, we forgive you.' I put on Zeppelin's 'Stairway to Heaven' and I've been musically obsessed ever since." – quoted in US Weekly Oct. 9, 2000

"I don't know how you fail drama, but I did it really well." – Fugit on his unsuccessful stint in ninth grade drama class to US Weekly, Oct. 9, 2000